Diner job,dinner date
by allmyshipsareonthiscouch
Summary: Emma Swan's life is definitely not the best. But when she meets Killian Jones again, a figure from her past, her life goes from not the best to the worst. Or so she thinks before letting her guard down.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE.

Emma Swan never felt shittier.

Her foster family had only ever taken in toddlers or infants before….so they didn't exactly know how to deal with a 14 year old. Plus , Emma had to go,because she understood the couple had no choice but to comply with ** _their_ ** toddler. So here she was,stuck at some random amusement park restaurant called "The pirate's diner". She considered this particular name to be very…."inspired and unique". Surely, no one has ever thought of that name for a pirate-themed diner before.

Besides feeling very much of embarrassed,a random 17 year old waiter was constantly checking her out and hitting on her. Wonderful,she thought to herself. Of course,it didn't bother her that he was very handsome,however, he wasn't very much of a gentleman. Even if his eyes were a deep blue and he had dimples,he was still a jackass. She didn't care very much until she returned in the system. After her current foster family kind of got bored of her, Emma got sent right back to the orphanage.

And there he was, the blue-eyed waiter. He introduced himself and, to no real surprise, started hitting on Emma right away. That's how she met Killian Jones:the professional player and arsehole. Well, at least that's what she thought of him back then. It didn't matter very much though because just one year later he got to just walk out of the orphanage,while Emma was stuck there until she turned 18. Well, she ran away at 16 anyway,but that's not the point. She absolutely forgot about Killian Jones anyway and just moved on with her life.

There was this guy named Neal,a lot of heartbreak, a baby that she kept,even though she didn't intend to at first and not a lot of money. Her life wasn't a sweet one,but at least she had Henry.

At first,she couldn't even look at him. He cried and reminded her of the heartbreaker that was his father. She thought the little guy could only bring her pain and suffering,because all he would do was:he was going to be a sad reminder for her. But then the doctor asked her if she wanted to hold him. She looked at the baby in his arms and all she could do was instantly fall in love with the little human that was a part of her now. She held him, got a closer look at the guy and changed her mind:she was NOT going to give up on him like his father did to her. She promised him to always love and protect him, and because he was going to be her little prince,she named him Henry.

Henry was growing up fast,but he was a good kid. He slept often and was almost impossible to wake up,was barely even fussy and ate whatever she fed him. Because he was this blessing of a kid,Emma got to go to college and graduated by 22. Henry and a degree: that's all Emma had. Even if she had a degree,no one would hire her,saying that she was just another unexperienced single mom who cared for nothing but herself. In the end, she just gave up on finding a job that she would enjoy having and started working as a waiter during the weekdays and as a librarian during the weekend. Two shitty jobs that paid next to nothing, but at least together they could pay for some decent meals. Emma and Henry were doing just fine on their own,that is, until her landlord kicked them out because sometimes Henry would cry and that would "disturb the neighbours". She was 23 at the time and Henry was 1.

That's when Emma decided they should probably move in a smaller apartment building,one still close to work but one in which the inhabitants are not soulless people who are disturbed by a hungry baby. So she moved in a bulding in New York that was owned by a lovely couple named David and Mary Margret Nolan. They were only three or four years older than her, but she got attached to them and they were almost like the family she never had. Almost.

At first,she wasn't going to open up to them about her past,even if they got close fast. She had her walls and they were very,very high. But one night David was coming to get the rent and found her on the stairs,crying, with Henry in her arms. The boy was sleeping, and she was weeping softly,so she wouldn't wake the kid up.  
"Shit.",David cursed under his breath and went up to Emma. He whispered,"Hey now,hey,Emma,what's wrong?"

Emma just looked at him and said with tears in her eyes;"I just got fired. From both jobs. Just because Henry had a cold and I asked for a few days off,so I could take care of him,you know? And now I don't have ANY money at all, I can absolutely not afford rent, my fridge is empty and believe me when I tell you, so is my stomach. I can still afford some food for Henry,but even that won't be for long. Oh and did I forget to tell you that no one wants to hire me, even if I worked my ass off to get a degree, because they think that because I'm a single mom I'm ultimatly a slut too? Yeah,I'm sorry for the rambling, but right now my point is I sold almost all of my furniture and Henry's stroller and I still have nothing to pay rent with." She stopped for a moment so she could catch her breath, sighed and then continued:" So feel free to kick me out and sell the rest of my furniture too,because I have nowhere to take it anyway." She swallowed thickly and stood up, Henry still sleeping safe and sound in her arms. At this point,Emma's eyes were overflowing with tears.

"Emma,stop." David said quickly and stood up so he would be almost on eye-level with Emma, but he was taller than her."We're not kicking anyone out and nobody is starving to death or selling your furniture. You know,Mary Margret just told me she saw an ad online where you can publish your CV and say something about yourself and you will either be hired as a waiter,as a barista or as something else in the domain you're good in. Until you figure that part out, you can live here without paying rent. Let's just say your house is on the house until you get a job." He winks and then speaks up once again." And if you need any money, we would be happy to help you with anything you need."

Emma's eyes were wide. She never thought someone would ever care for her this much. She thanked David and as soon they were in her apartment and Henry was sleeping in his crib, she gave David a tight hug. As she was crying,she said:"Thank you. You don't possibly understand how much this means to me".

Ever since that night, Mary Margret comes to visit her almost daily and cooks them something to eat. Of course,Emma found a job in the meantime and worked about 7 hours a day as a waiter in a pirate themed restaurant called " The pirate's diner". She didn't notice it at first,but after a while she remembered that was where she met an idiotic teenager named Killian Jones. She can still see him in his head, with those deep blue eyes and his sweet,sweet dimples. Oh yeah, and his arsehole-like behavior.

One day,as she's taking down the order of some happy looking family, she hears someone call her name. At first,she doesn't know where it came from, but as she looks around,she notices that the new sous-chef ,the one who called her, actually looks quite familiar. Confused ,she looked at the name tag pinned to his uniform: "Killian J". She freezes.

She looks at his nametag once again and then at his piercing blue eyes." Well,shit. If it isn't the one and only professional jackass:Killian Hit-on-girls-like-there-is-no-tomorrow Jones."  
"Nice to see you too,Swan",Killian says with a flirty smirk on his face. "I see you have not changed your views on me, even though we both can see that I am even more devilishly handsome than before."  
"Whatever rocks your boat,Killian."Emma rolls her eyes and turns away. She turns her head one last time before going to another table and adds:"Actually,I have a question for you."

"Aye? And what would that be,love?You plan on taking me out?"he asks,peeling back a smile.  
"Actually,I wanted to ask you if you are always this stupid or if this is just a special occasion."Emma turns her back to him as she knows his jaw fell open and walks away. In her head, she knows she can't ignore him forever,since they now both work in this stupid place, but at least she can try. The only reason she wants to ignore him is that he is so handsome,that if she wasn't careful she would fall for him in a heartbeat. And look where that got her the last time.

Meanwhile,Killian would like to casually jump off a bridge. He fucked up. Real bad. And he knows that. The only thing he has been doing since Milah's death has been sleeping with a multitude of women without feeling anything for them. He has just been trying to fill this void, but deep down he knows,acting like a jackass won't solve anything. And act like a jackass he just did. And he did it in front of Emma fricking Swan. What has she been up to?,he wonders as she turns her back away. Doesn't matter anyway,because he just ruined his chance with her. Well, that, and the fact that she is rather beautiful in the present day. He always thought of her as beautiful but forgot her almost instantly when he left the orphanage. That was eight years ago though and in the meantime he lost everything.

She doesn't seem too happy either,considering she is working as a waitress at a pirate themed restaurant in an amusement park. But she's different,somehow. Even if Killian's first thought was to get her in bed, the moment she opened her mouth and called him Killian Hit-on-girls-like-there-is-no-tomorrow Jones he knew she was absolutely not going to fall for his bullshit. And that,ladies and gentleman, is what made Emma Swan different from the other hot blondes Killian ever met. Plus, the fact that he knew her since she was 14 made a huge difference too.

Little did he know Emma was different because she considered herself far,far too broken to be loved by anyone but three people:Mary Margret,David and Henry.

That night,Emma came home,thanked Mary Margret for looking after Henry while she was gone and crashed onto her bed. She then rocked Henry to sleep, and turned the water in the tub on,thinking that she could take a hot bath before going to sleep. Anyway, it was Friday, so it wasn't like she was going to work tomorrow,but she felt she needed to relax before going to sleep. She was mostly stressed out because of Killian Jones and his existence.

How on earth was he still working at that freaking restaurant after ,what, eight or nine years. Good god,at least he doesn't appear to be doing much better than her at this point. Then she steps in a puddle. **_Shit,shit,shit. The bath is overflowing._ ** And because her life is just that awesome, she almost knows for a fact that somebody living beneath her has water dripping from the ceiling.

And then she hears a knock at the door. "Okay,amazing. Let's face a grumpy neighbor,shall we?",she thinks to herself while walking towards the front door to open it. And just like that,standing at her door with an angry but surprised expression, is the one and only Killian Jones.

"Wonderful"she thinks to herself again."Just .Wonderful. "


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO.

After a few moments of pure confusion she pushes Killian into the hallway,shuts the door behind them so she doesn't wake Henry up and starts yelling.

"WHAT. THE HELL.? HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET MY ADRESS?!" Emma is so pissed at the man in front of her that she doesn't realize who he might actually be. The neighbor. Yep. This is amazing, she says to herself as she forces herself to calm down.  
"Well,for starters,calm down,Swan. And I am quite sold on the fact that YOU are the one living above ME and well,there is water dripping from my ceiling."He says as he forces himself to look charming,even though he just now realizes he is in a fluffy blue house robe and slippers.

Emma has the honor of witnessing a very rare event:Killian Jones is self-conscious. She chuckles a bit as he starts to look quite embarrassed and lifts his left hand to scratch the back of his head. He doesn't look to happy with the situation:his appartement is not flooded but will be if Swan doesn't take care of the issue. Besides,he's standing in front of the woman he is trying to impress in nothing but a house robe and slippers. Still,Emma considers him to look rather handsome but will never,under any circumstances, admit that to herself. She would literally rather have Henry start talking in the middle of the night than give Killian Jones a chance.

After all,he made quite the first impression eight years ago when he saw Emma at a table and nervously (and embarrassingly) blurted out the words : "Why, hello there,love." For that line he was awarded with a serious death-stare and with the sight of Emma rolling her eyes ever so subtly.

And now it's exactly the same,this time in the rather vintage-looking hallway of,apparently, their shared appartement building. Emma looks tired of his shit and pissed off,while he tries and fails to impress her.  
Emma knows ,or at least she thinks she does, about Killian's intentions,so even if she is the one in the wrong, she still acts like everything,including climate changes and starvation, are all his fault.

She stares at him with anger in her eyes and says,as if she were triumphant in a silent fight,"Well,excuse me. I will try to fix the issue. Goodnight." She opens the door to her appartement and walks inside.  
"You know,I cou-" he tries to offer his help,but before he can even think about finishing his stastement,Emma Swan shuts her front door right in his face.  
"Bloody hell, Swan. Goodnight ,I guess",Killian mutters under his breath as he turns his back to the door and heads for the stairs. The tops of his ears are red and all he can feel right now is embarrassment.

"Gods,brother",Liam laughs into the speaker as he mocks Killian's incompetence. "How the bloody hell do you plan on winning her over if around her you act like a nervous child?"Killian is pissed and disappointed at his sudden lack of skills.  
"Brother,do you trust me?" Liam asks,suddenly serious.  
"Actually,not quite"Killian delivers his answer promptly and is proud to see that he at least still has an attitude around his brother.  
"Smart man." Liam laughs through his nose and then continues:"But I do have a plan."  
"You do?" Killian's excited all of a sudden,because now he would like to trust his brother."Well,brother,is it a good one?"  
At the other end of the line,Liam seems to contemplate his ,he says in a low voice;"Well….you see, at least it's a plan."

Emma was pissed. Henry was fussy. Killian woke him up with his stupid broom-in-the-ceiling technique. She couldn't do much about the flood though,so she called David for help. Mary Margret came up too, so she would chat with Emma. She just knew something was wrong,because Emma never calls past nine p.m. And it was ten o'clock at night,so something was definitely up and both Mary Margret and David wondered what. When they rang her doorbell and Emma answered with Henry crying in her arms,her feet and the hem of her sweats wet,they got their answer.

" Whoa. What happened?"David asked as he rushed past Emma to the bathroom.  
"I…uh…I was planning to take a bath but five minutes after I turned the water in the tub on,I stepped in a puddle. The guy living underneath me got pissed,and after I couldn't figure out what to do,he decided to bang a broom against his ceiling. That's what woke Henry up. Also, conveniently enough, the pissed neighbor is a guy that hit on me when I was 14 and he was 17. He's hot, sure, but he is still an idiot. And if I planned on maybe being just friends with him, he ruined that chance of his too by messing with my kid."

Mary Margret was caught off-guard by all that information. After she could speak again,she instructed Emma to put on a pair of heels so she wouldn't get any wetter and did the same. Then they both went on the balcony,the only dry place in Emma's appartement by now.  
"So this Killian guy,why exactly don't you want to give him a chance?"Mary Margret asked in a hushed voice after Henry fell asleep again.  
"Didn't you get the part where I told you was a huge jackass?" Emma seems quite angry with him, but Mary Margret doesn't give up.  
"Well, Emma, you out of all people should know that people can change." Mary Margret looks proud of her little speech,but Emma on the other hand just quirks an eyebrow at her and laughs.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you sa-"Emma interrupts herself and gives Henry to Mary Margret. She bends over the edge of her balcony, nearly giving Mary Margret a heart attack, and to her surprise, Killian is on his balcony too. She shouldn't be surprised though :her balcony being the only dry place in her house, it must be the only place where water isn't dripping from the ceiling of his apartement.  
He's on the phone and looks quite disappointed and embarrassed, but all Emma can see is that he looks very, very tired :much like her. Just a few moments later David comes on the balcony and announces the problem has been fixed.

"Well that's amazing news, but I think it would be for the best if Emma and Henry slept in our guestroom tonight, don't you think, David?" Mary Margret asks, Henry still asleep in her arms.  
"Thanks guys…I could stay here but I don't think the humidity would be good for Henry, and I'd really like to spend the night with him. But it's definitely ok, you guys go get some sleep, it's not too late for us to rent a hotel room or something." Emma said shyly as she took Henry in her arms again.  
"Don't be silly, Emma." David insisted. "You know you're always welcome at our place. I'll just go get the portable crib, you girls can go downstairs and I'll be there in a few."

Emma was ready to protest again, but Mary Margret put her hand on Emma's arm and she basically had no choice but to go with them to their appartment . They had a guestroom after all, and she would enjoy not waking up in a puddle. But then it hit her. David and Mary Margret live one floor underneath hers. And so does Killian Jones."Amazing" she thinks to herself. But she knows she would rather she and Henry have a good nightsleep than worry about a moron living on the same floor.

"Uh…,thanks"Emma finally says as Mary Margret opens the door to her and David's apartment. "I really appreciate it." She realizes nothing could possibly go wrong with accepting her friend's offer, because tomorrow was Saturday anyway and she was going to wake up before Killian and sneak upstairs with Henry before they could have any other conversation. Well, he would call it a conversation, she would call it an annoying and quite tragic event.

The next morning,Emma doesn't wake up as she planned to,at about eight or nine a.m.,instead rising out of bed at 11 o'clock. She puts her glasses on, ties her hair into a messy bun and leaves the Nolan apartment after thanking and saying goodbye to the couple. Just as she stands in the hallway with a chattering Henry in her arms, she hears a door opening. It's Killian's front door. Awesome. She turns her back to his entrance and goes up the stairs, without even looking at the man staring in awe at her.

Once again, Killian would very much like to jump off a bridge. He doesn't even stand a chance. But he still runs after her,screaming at the tops of his lungs: " Swan, hey, Swan!" He's yelling because he didn't see the kid in Emma's arms. She knows this, but she's still annoyed at the fact that he is screaming her name up and down the stairs. Emma hurries inside her apartment when Henry starts to cry. God, if Killian wouldn't have started screaming, Henry wouldn't have gotten so scared and she would still be able to have a nice, quiet Saturday with her one and only love, Henry. But no. Killian Jones just HAD to go and ruin that thing too. She walks into her bedroom and calms Henry down. Then she puts him in his crib next to his toys and quickly goes back in the hallway.

"What exactly is it that you want,Jones?" ,she asks furiously. "Can you do anything WITHOUT somehow ruining my sleep or Henry's?!" Shit. Well, now she's going to have to explain to this idiot that she's a single mom.  
Killian's face falls.  
She can see some vague amount of pain in his eyes as he speaks :"Apologies, Swan. I didn't mean to disturb you or your boyfriend last night. Just wanted to inform you there was still water dripping from my ceiling."

Emma loses it at the mention of her so-called boyfriend. She chuckles and Killian seems unamused by her lack of seriosity. "Well, Jones." Emma begins after calming down, "Henry is not my boyfriend. He is my one-year-old son who you keep scaring or waking up in the middle of the night."  
"Oh." Killian's eyes are wide and he mutters an apology under his breath." Well, I didn't know that. If….erm…if you…if I could maybe help you with…uh anything…you can certainly,well, I can help, you know?" Killian lifts his left hand to scratch the back of his head in embarassement and turns to walk away.

"Uh,sure. Thanks " Emma seems to be suspicious of Killian's intentions, but somehow, somewhere deep down, she knows she saw something in his look when he found out about Henry that was friendly, not at all desperate or flirtatious . So after all, she could maybe ,and just maybe, be friends with Killian Jones.  
But if that jackass tries anything on her, his chance at something resembling a friendship will be long gone.

"She has a _**son**_." Liam repeats at the other end of the line. "That means she's probably married or something, right?" Killian is desperate, he doesn't bother to think about what his brother just said.  
" Bloody hell ,Killian. Why do you have this thing for married woman , eh?" Liam seems to think about what to say next before continuing : " You know where this got you the last time, with Milah. I'm sorry brother, but you need to understand this marriage thing."  
Killian finally speaks up: "Liam, will you please shut up for a mere second?"  
Liam seems stumped: "Aye,brother. Sure"  
"She is not married. This much I know for sure."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE.

"So we've got to go along with that plan of yours on Monday?" Killian doesn't seem to excited about his brother's proposition, but he realizes it is indeed a plan, and it also is everything they have right now.  
"Aye. Got any better plans?" Liam is beginning to lose his patience.  
" N-no. But just think about the risks, you know? I-I don't think it's very safe. I mean, what if it doesn't work? Or worse, what if it bloody works and she catches on and thinks even worse about me. I'm telling you, brother, this-this is not the way to do it."

"Brother, calm your nerves. It's only a small fire: you accidentally set a small fire and be her hero, you know?" Liam says, as if setting a fire of any kind would just be that easy.  
" Aye. And then what?" Killian says and he can basically imagine his brother rolling his eyes at that last question.  
"WELL BLOODY HELL KILLIAN. AND THEN THE LASS WILL BE YOURS TO KEEP. It really is not that hard to comprehend. And I'm saying that while talking to you." Liam just lost it. He wonders what is up with Killian. All his life he has been a ladies-man, and then a lass comes around and his little brother turns into a nervous child. And as if that wouldn't be enough, he is trying to actually be honest around this one girl, instead of just winning her over already.  
Killian sighs: "Alright brother. I'm going to trust you on this one. But if this doesn't work out the way it was supposed to, it's your bloody fault."

With that, Killian hangs up the phone and start nervously pacing around his apartment. About 24 more hours and he will have to "just start a small fire". He knows he shouldn't be nervous though, his brother assured him he would be there. Just in case, he said over the phone. Yeah, it's no big deal, he'll handle it and Emma will be falling for him in no-time after the "incident". Okay. He's going to be okay.

Emma is so furious it hurts. She overheard the entire freaking conversation. How dare he. How fucking dare he. She finally considers being his friend and he plans on starting a fire just so he can win her over? No freaking way that's going to happen. There is no way in hell she'll be falling for that on Monday. Nope, not going to happen. She's just going to stand there while he plays the hero than she's going to go back to her witty comments and sarcasm. The way she always does and will always do, until someone decides to show up that is worth opening up to. Good god, never in her life has she felt so angry because of a guy trying to win her over. But there is absolutely no way he's going to succed. Maybe only if he succesfuly grills her brain in his "small fire". God, that guy is a textbook case of a sociopath.

Monday comes around and all Emma can think about is that jackass, trying to seduce her by setting a fire. Has that even worked before? Like, EVER? Either Killian or his victims are very, very stupid. With that little conversation going on in her head, Emma starts her day on a rather positive note. Good way to start the week, she thinks: talk to yourself in your head while feeding carrots to a one-year-old. She anyway did close to nothing this weekend, so at least she isn't as tired as usual. But she's still tired. Her head hurts from thinking so much even though she spent all day yesterday cuddling with Henry on their couch while watching reality TV.

But then it's time to go to work. And, amazingly enough, she meets Killian on the way down to her car. She should have thought about that: it was inevitable for something like this encounter to happen eventually. They live in the same building and start work at the same time, after all. Emma just chooses to walk a little faster to get to the bug instead, even though she knows she's going to get to work really, really early. She should've stayed home for the day and just ruin Killian's plan completely but she is really curious to see how it will turn out. For him, it'll be a failure, she thinks. But to her it will only be some comedy, and comedy can't ruin anybody's day.

Killian notices Emma is walking faster since she saw him. Maybe she heard the conversation between him and Liam, but that's hardly even possible. What were the chances she was on the balcony on the same exact same time as him, doing nothing in particular so she could hear them speak. No, it's almost impossible.  
Poor guy. Doesn't even know what's coming now,does he?

Emma gets to work first. Some early birds are already eagerly waiting to place their order and get started for the day. Emma changes into her uniform, puts her glasses on so she can see what she's about to write down and comes out of the break room. And then she sees Killian, walking past her with a huge grin on his face and into the break room so he can change too. Emma takes a few orders and then goes outside for some fresh air. She wonders what the chances were, for her and Killian Jones to work at the exact same amusement park in the middle of nowhere and at the same "wonderful" diner. Now that she thinks about it, she now only has shitty memories of that place. "Killian Jones: ruining everything since the age of 17." She can't help but chuckle a little at that thought. Then she heads back inside. It's the middle of the day already, so the diner is relatively empty at this point. Killian is talking to a dark-haired customer.

He looks about 35 and shares a stricking resemblance to Killian. He's most probably the idiot who came up with the plan. A.K.A Killian's older brother. Good looks and no brain must run in the family, she guesses. Then she realizes Killian's about to fulfill his masterplan. And when she sees something in the kitchen light up, it hits her. This morning, before Killian arrived, she spilled someone's glass of gin in the kitchen. She didn't bother to clean it up, as it wasn't in the centre of the kitchen where everything happens. But Killian was apparently standing where the gin spilled.  
Shit,fuck,shit. That idiot is so dead. And then, there is fire in the middle of the kitchen and it works it's way behind the bar, where Emma is standing scared out of her mind. Killian's brother is the first to realize that the diner is burning.  
"Killian, you git!" He yells as he turns to the kitchen door. "My exact words were 'small fire'! I said to set A SMALL FIRE! This is not small!"

"Who the bloody hell spilled gas all over the kitchen floor?" Killian yells, as he tries to extinguish the fire with some wet washing cloths.  
"Well it's actually not gas, it's gin. And it was you who set the damn fire,jackass. Now get the hell out of here before we all get to be on the menu as grilled limbs." Emma seems calmer that the others as she yells out instructions.  
"Swan is right. It will be a whole lot safer outside."Killian concludes as the men in the diner all go on hero-mode and get everyone out of apparent danger's way. Then, to everyone's shock, the building collapses and, well, it blows up.

Emma is the first one to break the silence. She's in shock: " You didn't seriously like,…"  
"Actually,yes" Killian answers.  
"And you just…?" Emma just can't seem to believe what happened."Indeed." Killian, on the other hand, seems quite at peace with the fact that he just burned down a building.  
"You realize that means…?" Emma knows what she wants to say, but the words just can't get out of her mouth.  
"Quite probably." He definetly knows what Emma is talking about. He might actually go to prison for a while for the stunt he'd just pulled.  
At this very moment, Emma wakes up and her eyes go wide. She turns to Killian and starts yelling: " You just set an entire building on fire you moron!" Liam finds the scene quite amusing, but he notices something isn't quite right about Emma and another waitress, Elsa. As they are both wearing the white uniform blouse, he can see something red leaking from beneath their tops. He takes a moment before realizing what it is.

"Bloody hell. Guys. Excuse me." But no one can hear him compared to Emma. She's yelling at Killian.  
"Well, Swan. Technichally it wasn't on fire." He shrugs in response to her furious arguments.  
"Of course not!" Emma yells. "You completely blew it u-" Emma falls to the ground. Killian and Elsa kneel next to her, so they can get a look at her burns, but moments later, she and Elsa both lose consciousness. Everything goes black around Emma.

"Bloody hell,Liam. This is all your fault. If you wanted to burn a building down yourself, you could've done it without grilling the lass I'm trying so hard to impress and creating collateral damage." Killian says while jumping in the back of one of the ambulances that just arrived. He's got to get checked up as well, but he just wishes he would be in the same ambulance as Emma. She blacked out and was immediately taken to the hospital. So was the other waitress, Elsa. They both apparently had some second and first degree burns on their backs, because the fabric the uniforms were made out of was apparently very flammable cotton. God, Killian should have done some research. Or at least wiped the kitchen floor before setting a "small fire". How did this even happen? It was definetly not supposed to turn out like this.

He should've been the hero and extinguish a very small and not dangerous fire, not play the firefighter. The paramedics also said that some debris hit Emma as they were getting out of the building, but she didn't feel anything because of the shock. He feels like the worst person in the entire universe. Now he's going to be a villain in her eyes, that is, if she ever wants to even see him again.  
He knows, this time he'd be lucky if she just didn't file a restraining order against him. But then, as the ambulance is near the hospital, it hits him. He and Liam are in exceptionally great trouble. And for the shitstorm they've just started, they would be lucky if their shared life-savings would be half of the bail.

David is called on the scene of "some fire incident", but he doesn't even think anything about it. After all, he's a cop and gets cases like this almost daily. He drives his car to the amusment park and is already very worried when he reaches the diner. Or rather what's left of it. His mind immediately wonders to Emma. "Shit." David mutters under his breath as his heart starts racing. But right now, he's got to do his job. Maybe Emma was on break. Maybe she got out in time , without getting injured. But then he looks around. He only sees one familiar face, and it's not Emma's.

It's August, the chef working at the diner, a friend of Emma's. He immediately runs up to David and starts blurting out apologies and senseless sentences. There are no more ambulances around to take the poor guy to, so he just hands August a blanket and tells him to calm down. After five minutes while David is questioning eye-witnesses, August finally calmes down. He goes up to David and says, his voice low and sad: "Emma blacked out. They've taken her to the hospital along with some other people who were in the diner. She is,…. Well, she is by far the most injured one." And with those words, David's heart sinks.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR.

"I- It's, uh, I talked to August about it. And well, it's bad." David said to Mary Margret. She gasped audibly and when she spoke again, her voice was sad and shaking:  
"You're going to the hospital, right? I-uh-I'm coming right now but there's a lot of traffic and, I –oh ,God, I might get there later and maybe if she wakes up and doesn't see any of us, she's going to freak out, she's going to feel unwanted again and,-." She interrupts herself and sighs. "Just, get there quickly. Please."

"Of-of course. I'll be right there in no-time, I promise." David sighs too, and then he hangs up the phone. He's already on his way to the hospital, but it's 12 p.m., also known for some reason as rush hour. Then he realizes: he's in a police car. And well, Emma is after all an eye-witness. With that thought, he turns on the siren and cuts through lines and passes red lights, just so he can reach the hospital as soon as possible.

Killian, on the other hand, is already there. He's in Emma's room ever since he got there, and just a few moments earlier, she was brought back from surgery. Her whole right leg was in a cast. She's asleep now, but she'll wake up in an hour or so. Or at least that's what the doctors told him. Elsa is in the room next to Emma and she's asleep too. They are the most injured ones, but thank God that's not very bad.

Sure, they have some broken bones and some burns, but at least they're not grilled or dead. And neither of them is in a coma or something like that, but that would be one of the worst case scenarios. Still, she's going to kill him, then Liam, then him again. And then Elsa is definitely going to do the same. And he also might be homeless after the landlords find out. They're like family to Emma and well, she is asleep in a hospital bed after surgery. Definitely not a good first impression, seeing as he kind of, sort of is the reason Emma and Elsa are there.

And then it dawns on him that even though the fact that Emma is in the hospital is pretty bad in and of itself, he and Liam might actually be going to prison. And this time, there will be no one who will be able to bail them out. The moment Emma will tell the cops what happened, because she certainly knows at this point, he'll be behind bars in no-time. Even if through a miracle, Emma decides not to tell the cops who responsible is, Elsa or August certainly will. August hadn't even arrived at the hospital yet, so the cops might even know already who's to blame.

But David is the only cop that arrived at the scene, and he was too scared to properly question the eye-witnesses. Also, the eye-witnesses who were actually in the diner were already taken to the nearest hospital for check-ups, except for August, who couldn't tell David what he really saw. Killian was the sous-chef, his friend, and he knew what he did was just to impress Emma. He also knew that it wasn't even Killian's genius plan to begin with, it was his brother's.

And the plan would've worked if Emma wouldn't have spilled gin all over the kitchen floor, or if someone would have bothered to at least clean it up. But it happened, so the least he could do for Killian and his brother was to act like he didn't see anything relevant. He knew it would eventually get him in some amount of trouble after Emma and Elsa would tell David everything that actually happened .And then is when the shitstorm would truly start. But until them, he thought he would be able to buy Killian some time , before he was going to have to explain himself to the police. When August saw the last ambulance arriving to the scene to get him, he sighed , as he knew him arriving to the hospital and being let go meant another hundred questions from David, only this time, August wouldn't have any excuse as to why he didn't answer them. Meanwhile, David was almost at the hospital, when he got the phonecall from the hospital explaining what happened to Emma as if he didn't know it all too good already.

Emma doesn't wake up until next morning. Killian sat next to her bed in a chair all night, because if something were to happen while she slept, he would probably never be able to forgive himself. What once happened to Milah was now happening to Emma. He knew Emma would smack him if she found out that he was comparing her to a girl who actually loved him back, but he fell in love with Emma the moment he saw her again at the diner, for the first time in eight bloody long years. Because she was different. If anything worse than a few burns and broken bones were to happen to her, he would never be able to live with himself again. Because, just like what happened to Milah, it would be completely his fault.

Milah would have been just fine if he didn't tell her that she was "definitely more sober than he was". But they were young and very stupid. And drunk. They were both very, very drunk. He couldn't get over her. He thought he might as well get a job where he worked as a teenager. Then he saw Emma again and something in him clicked. She was the symbol of starting over, someone he knew before Milah, someone who wouldn't pity him for what he has been through. So he tried to impress her. He tried for over two weeks. But he messed it up: he woke up her son and the proceeded to literally make him cry as he was screaming Swan's name up and down the stairs. And then she just avoided him for two weeks, even though he was constantly trying to court her. What he didn't know was why she was avoiding him.

Emma slept a whole lot, but on her way to the hospital she had some time to think about what the actual fuck just happened. She blacked out a few minutes ago, woke up in the ambulance but couldn't manage to open her mouth. So she just sat there and thought about the last two weeks. Before she heard the conversation between Killian and Liam, she was actually considering letting him break her walls up a little. She wasn't feeling worthy, not at all, but he was after all a hot guy she knew since before Neal trying to impress her, so even if she was afraid of getting hurt, she saw something in him: something secure, a memory of her childhood, before Neal messed almost everything up. Even if her childhood wasn't quite the fairytale, something about him seemed safe. Or at least for the moment. And when she looked at him, he seemed to be able to see the same feeling of safety in her. That's why she avoided him so much.

She knew that even if he was her anchor to a seemingly good part of her childhood, he would eventually just turn his back on her and run away, just like Neal did. She wanted so badly to be able to trust him, like her gut told her to, but she thought she was way too broken for that: for trust. So before she overheard the conversation between the Jones jackass number 1 and 2, she was actually considering giving him a chance, even if that would have been incredibly hard for her to do. But she was able to at least try and give him a shot, like Mary Margret told her to. But hearing his plan just confirmed her every theory: for him, she was just another girl that he tries to get in bed with. And that made her furious and angry at herself, because she was considering this guy and she got hurt once again. And it was purely her fault because she was actually kind of, sort of falling for this moron.

Doesn't matter anymore anyway, because now she's in an ambulance with burns on her body and her right leg is starting to hurt like hell. She hears someone say it's been crushed. "Well those are definitely some good news.", she thinks to herself. Someone is constantly asking her to wiggle her toes, but she can't right now. She isn't even scared, she just doesn't care anymore. She's broken and in pain: most of it not even physical. She's been played again, and this time no one is to blame but her. She did this to herself, she should've known she can't be loved without a cost.

When Emma finally wakes up, Killian is out cold in the chair right by her bed. They're alone in the room, so there's nothing much she can do. She can't get up, because, to her surprise, her entire right leg is in a cast. She looks around the room: nothing special, just a white hospital room. There is a TV mounted on the wall across her bed, a dresser next to the window and a night-table. Everything is white or a cool minty color. The chair Killian is sitting in is dark blue and seems very uncomfortable. There are some other more comfortable chairs in her room, but none quite as close to the bed as this one. There are some IV-s next to her night-table, but she doesn't think much about them, because right the next moment she spots her phone and clothes standing on another table next to her bed. She can't get up but she can, however, try to reach them.

As she finally grabs her phone, she finds out it's Tuesday morning. She didn't know that until this very moment. It's still very early in the morning, the clock next to the TV indicating it's only five thirty a.m. She thinks about yesterday a bit then decides to text Elsa. She's either in a better situation than her, meaning she's probably asleep, or she's in the exact same situation, meaning she must be somewhere near her.  
Emma: "Hey. U up yet?"  
Elsa: "Yeah. the hospital. Where are u?"  
Emma understands Elsa must be doing the same thing as her in the hospital, which is standing in a hospital bed waiting for someone to wake up.  
Emma: "Can you get up?"  
Elsa: "Yup. I would visit you but your _**firecracker boyfriend**_ is sleeping."  
Emma is typing when she gets another notification from Elsa.  
"Actually, nevermind. I'm coming and I'm bringing a wheelchair."

Emma smiles a little at the last text message and when she finally sees Elsa at her door, she makes as little noise as possible as she climbs out of her bed and into the wheelchair. She hates it but she feels like she desperately needs some fresh air. The girls manage not to wake Killian up, even though Emma is indecisive as to whether to kiss Killian or to sing the trumpet as close to his eardrum as possible.  
When they're finally outside, Emma asks: "So do you remember anything from yesterday? Because to me it's somewhat of a blur."  
Elsa seems a little disappointed when she answers: "Well, I actually passed out right after you did, but I do remember the fire and explosion part of my Monday." She chuckles a bit then continues: "It was definitely some interesting way to start my week."  
"Yeah. That is was. But I don't remember much before the passing out thing either." Emma says, as she looks a little embarrassed.

"Well, uh, nothing much to say except for the fact that Killian was planning to drop a match and be the hero. Probably to impress you though. But you kind of spilled gin earlier that morning and that-uh, well- and that made the building burn real quick and blow up a few minutes after that. It was quite the firework. However, we all got out in time. Well, relatively. Your leg was 'crushed on our way out'. Or at least that's what the doctor told your roommates. Or, whatever they are."

" Oh." Emma says, surprised by the choice of words the doctor used. 'Crushed' doesn't sound very good to her. "Well then it appears my week started off with a fire and the next one will hopefully begin with us getting sent home. Is anybody doing worse than I am?" Emma sighs. "That would suck. It's kind of my fault too, you know?"  
"Nonsense. I could've spilled that gin. August could've done it, too. And besides, no one is more injured than us. You're the 'most injured' winner and I'm the first runner-up. So we've got this." Elsa winks and the two of them spend some more time in silence outside the hospital.

When Killian wakes up at eight o'clock, Swan's belongings are untouched, but her bed is empty. So are the chairs by the window. Her bed is made and in horizontal position. The pillows on which her right leg was placed were gone. The room looked like no one even slept there for the last 15 hours, and that scared Killian out of his mind. That's what Milah's room looked like after…after they took her ... out of there. And it also looked like that during emergency surgeries. Either way, it was really, really bad news. Killian stood up and went to check the bathroom, but when she wasn't in there either, his mind wondered off in the darkest of places. What if something bad happened over the night and he was asleep when she needed him? _**Shit**_. He falls down in one of the chairs by the window and wishes he would just take out a bottle of rum and get drunk off his arse.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE.

He runs his hands down his face and looks at the clock again. It's nine o'clock. It's already been an hour. Something is wrong. She's been missing for an hour. The Nolan's aren't even here yet, they said they were coming back later. But something is up. He can't ask a nurse or the doctor, because he's too afraid of what the answer might be. He doesn't want to know. Well, right now he's dead curious, but he knows that if it's bad, he will wish he wouldn't have asked. So he just stands there, waiting for someone who might not come back, in an empty room.

He's got to do something, anything at all, or else he's going to go mad. He tells himself that if another hour goes by and nothing happens, he will ask someone about where Emma is. He has to, or else the Nolan's will blame him for losing her. But what worries him is that her entire right leg was in a cast, so she couldn't have gotten up and casually decided to take a walk around the hospital.

He can't bring himself to leave her room though. He hopes for the best as another hour passes. Just as he gets up and walks worriedly towards the door, a nurse comes in the room. She just apologises franatically as any trace of color leaves Killian's face. She says something about Emma leaving the room without her IV-s, then something about how she fainted and was taken into an emergency surgery.

Killian looks as if someone just shot him in the chest. He should've looked for her. He should've asked someone where she was, because she was outside the hospital this whole time. She wasn't in any trouble until a few minutes ago. If only he had gone outside and brought her back into her room, none of this would have happened. He was a horrible person. He had one job, and that was to look out for Emma until the Nolan's came. Then he would go home, take a shower and come back. Apparently, she was after all just taking a walk. If only Killian would have gotten up and looked for her, it would have stayed that way: just a walk.

But now she's in the surgery room once again, the second time in 24 hours. And all her can think about is that it's all his fault.

Elsa is worried. She's standing in the waiting room, her IV next to her to prevent what happened to Emma from happening to her. But she wishes she would be the one in the O.R., not Emma. That's when a tall man with dark hair approaches her. He sits down next to her and asks:  
"Hey. You here for Emma, too?" He seems a bit worried as he pronounces her name.  
"Yeah. Why? Who are you?" Elsa asks, as she subtly creates more distance between her and the tall guy.  
"I'm Liam. The irresponsible jackass responsible for this mess. My little brother is freaking out about this whole second surgery thing." He shrugs. "Guess he really likes the lass."

Elsa is freaking out too, but she doesn't want to show it to this hot moron. " She'll probably be okay. She always is."  
Just then, doctor Whale exits the surgery room. He has a huge grin on his face as he announces that Emma will be asleep for a bit more, but she's just fine. Elsa lets out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding in and Liam smiles and nods. "Thank god." He says. "At least my brother won't have a heart attack now." The three of them chuckle and the atmosphere is suddenly a lot lighter.

Killian, on the other hand, is nearly having a heart attack, just like Liam predicted. He paces nervously around Emma's room when his brother walks in.  
"Brother!" Killian nearly yells when he sees him. "Tell me, how is she? Is she out yet? Why aren't they bringing her back in her room? Did some-." Liam interrupts him.  
"Brother, calm down. Emma will be just fine, but she'll be asleep some more. This time, it shouldn't take more than two hours for her to wake up, so you have to call doctor Whale if she takes too long, alright?" Killian pulls him into a tight hug as he exhales. Then he looks toward the door as two nurses are bringing a sleeping Emma back from the O.R.. Killian can't even consider falling asleep right now, even if he feels like he could collapse from exhaustion.

Emma is only asleep for a few more hours and she wakes up right after David and Mary Margret leave the hospital. Killian told them about the incident from earlier this morning and they didn't seem to be mad at him. On the contrary, they were very understanding when he told them he was asleep when she left the room.

However, Mary Margret and David leave at about one o'clock, and just a few minutes after that, Emma wakes up. Killian is in the uncomfortable chair next to her bed and is looking at his hands: he places them on the bed and Emma notices they have burns all over them. She closes her eyes and then opens them again slightly as she looks at him for a few seconds, but he doesn't notice her stare. She thinks he's so handsome, standing there and inspecting his own hands, as well as hers. She follows up that thought with another one, one that **_almost_** makes her joyful: he actually stayed there all night and all morning waiting and wishing for her to wake up.

But there is something sad in his eyes: he probably feels guilty. So she gently grabs his hand and squeezes it, just so she can remind him that she's not mad at him. Or at least, not anymore: she's trying to forgive him.  
"Hey, Jones." She says in a very hushed and weak voice, as a smile is creeping on her face.  
Killian's eyes go wide and he looks at Emma, who's just standing in her hospital bed half-asleep, as if it would be the typical thing to do on Tuesdays. He's happy and surprised as he speaks; "Swan! Thank God you're alright, love. You bloody scared me." he says, his voice low as to somehow not break her.

Then he realizes it's his own fault that she's so fragile, so instead of squeezing her tight to his chest as he intended to, he backs away slowly. " I- I'm so sorry. Please don't call the police right away, alright? I-I know you must be mad but I am so, so sorry." Emma's smile fades away when she hears Killian's words. She sees something in his eyes that reminds her of her younger self: pain and heartache. And also a shitload of panic.

He's slowly walking backwards toward the door, as to get out of her sight as soon as possible. The exact moment he reaches the door, he runs straight into the hallway and away. He doesn't want her to see him like that, and he also doesn't want her to file a restraining order against him, so not pushing her was the best way to do both of those things. He was heartbroken but also kind of happy. He was heartbroken because he didn't know how he could live without her now that she's alive and well, but he's also thanking the heavens for her waking up. He didn't know she forgave him.

Emma is going crazy. She woke up to see Killian waiting next to her bed, and that made her happy. Then he ran straight out of the room, leaving her heartbroken behind. Just like Neal did almost two years ago. Oh god, it's all happening again. She takes a pillow from next to her and screams and cries into it. Fuck him, she thinks.

She should've expected it. She definitely should've seen it coming. But she didn't , and now she's standing alone in a hospital bed, crying her eyes out in a pillow. Someone knocks at her door. She quickly dries her tears and looks up from her pillow. It's the **_Jones Jackass number two_**. Well, that's most certainly not his name but she doesn't actually know what else to call him. So she sniffs and says:  
"Hi,-." She leaves a blank space for his name, because she doesn't want to call him Jones Jackass number two right off the bat.  
"Liam." He fills in. "I'm Killian's brother."  
" I know. You're the one with the genius masterplan to set the building on fire, aren't you?" She says, feeling her attitude come back to her.

"Aye. Kind of." He sighs and takes a seat in one of the comfortable chairs by the window. " But it wasn't on purpose, though. I just came by to tell you I'm sorry. And so is my brother." He says, as Emma feels tears threatening to surface.  
" Yeah. He told me that right before he ran out of my room. But why bother tell me if he doesn't care anyway?" Emma and Liam both sigh, and Liam is the first to break the silence.

"He does care, Emma. A lot more than you think. It's just-…-it's difficult for him. Seeing you like this, it breaks his heart: not only because he cares about you a whole lot, but because his last love, Milah ,... she died. And he blames it on himself for her death, even though he couldn't be more wrong. So just give him a chance, 'cause believe me when I tell you, Emma, he's falling in love with you. And you're the first one he's cared about so deeply in six years. Please, don't cut my idiotic little brother off." And with that he sits up and walks to the door.

"Hey." Emma says quickly before he goes out in the hallway. "Thanks for telling me that." She smiles weakly.  
Liam nods: "T'was my pleasure." Then he leaves her alone in the hospital room, her head in the clouds and hear heart threatening to leave her chest. She lies back down in her bed and closes her eyes. Suddenly, she's thinking about Henry.

"Hey! Look who has finally decided to wake up!" David says while making his way across the room to hug Emma. Mary Margret would very much like to do the same, but she's holding Henry in her arms. The second the little guy sees his mom, he starts calling for her and chattering away.

He's all smiley when Mary Margret finally sets him on Emma's bed. She would love to get up and run around the room with him, but she can't, and that breaks her heart. So she just lays in bed and plays with her son until it's time to go. They're both sad, Henry even protesting when Mary Margret had to separate him and his mom. David stayed a little more to question Emma. He asked all the basic questions, but she didn't want to get Killian in trouble after what his brother told her. So she acted as if she hadn't seen much, and David seemed completely content with her story. But, as he concluded the questioning, he put down his notepad and spoke in a serious tone.

"Emma." He sighs. "I-uh,well- We thought it would be for the best if you… if you gave Henry up for adoption." Emma's eyes go wide and she almost faints at the last sentence David said. She wants to cry, to ask who the fuck "we" is and to protest and she just opens her mouth as to say something when she hears Killian's voice. He's standing in the doorframe and, quite frankly, he looks really pissed.

"I think you should leave her alone, mate" he says as he enters Emma's room.  
"Killian, it's- it's really none of your business. So if you would be so kind to…well, leave, that would be great." David says angrily as he stands up.  
Killian looks over at Emma and sees tears burning in the corners of her eyes. Then he stands up a bit straighter and says to David: "Well, mate, I believe you're the one who should really be leaving. I think your presence is really, really unwanted now." He comes a little closer to David and whispers, so Emma can't hear him, "That is, unless you want to make a scene."

Then he moves back and lets David brush past him as he heads for the door. He looks a little mad as he turns his head and says to Emma: "We'll talk about this tomorrow, right?" She swallows thickly and points at the door: " No, we won't talk about this tomorrow or ever again. And if you would be so kind as to not show your face around here for a few days, that would really help a lot." Emma sighs then adds: "And tell whoever came up with this plan to kindly go fuck himself. I love you and Mary Margret very much but this is a stupid idea and you were very wrong to think I would ever agree to it. Now get the hell out of my room. Please."  
David sighs and leaves the room, entering the bright hallway.

Mary Margret was absolutely disgusted with David's idea. It hurt her as much as it did Emma, but she felt it was the best option right now. It would be too expensive for Emma to pay for health care and baby stuff. She knew it was just going to be too much for her to handle. Besides, Henry was with a babysitter all day every day except for the weekends, so even though it hurt her very, very much to admit it, adoption was Emma's best option right now. It would also be Henry's best chance, most probably. But when she had to separate Henry and Emma at the hospital, she knew Emma wasn't going to give Henry up without a fight. But it would be selfish of her to protest, and that's what hurt Mary Margret the most. Emma was the least selfish person she knew, but she knew this was going to be a tough fight.

David was somewhat hurt, too. He knew all too well who started the fire, but Emma not telling him really made his heart sink. Didn't she trust him? Did she catch feelings for this random guy from her past? Besides these two questions constantly popping up in his head, he didn't get why Emma didn't understand adoption will mean giving her and Henry their best chance. It broke his heart to see her fighting the tears when he brought up that subject. He knew it was kind of stupid of him to bring it up right then and there but he had been considering this for a long time, and the fire just seemed to be the very last bit of evidence he needed that Henry was better off in the system. He knew that was a cruel thought, but Henry was still young and he was a good kid, so he would probably get adopted in no-time.

Killian was fuming. Seeing Emma with broken bones and burns in a hospital bed made his heart ache. On the other hand, seeing Emma trying to fight for Henry while fighting her tears truly made him loose it. How dare that guy, whoever he was to her, try to make her give Henry up. And he actually thought she was going to agree to it, just like that? Killian didn't know Emma very well, but one thing he knew _**very bloody well**_ , and that was : she loved Henry more than anything in the world.

The moment David left her room, Emma broke down in tears. Killian rushed to her bed to comfort her, and to his surprise, she didn't push him away. She just sat in his arms, crying her eyes out. After a few minutes, when she finally calmed down a slight bit, she swallowed thickly and looked up at Killian.  
"Will you please bring him here tomorrow?" She sniffed. "I love him so, so much and-and I just…"  
Killian looked at her with pain in his eyes and just said: "Aye, love. I get it. I'll bring the boy here tomorrow and he can stay here with us. I can help you take care of him, you know?"  
"Thanks, Killian." She said quietly as she closed her eyes and let the tears stream down her face.

She fell asleep in Killian's arms and they stayed like that, all tangled up, in her bed all night.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX.

 _"Would you please just leave me alone, Killian?" Emma asked, slightly pissed off by the blue-eyed teenager.  
"I just want to be left alone right now." She could feel the tears burning behind her eyes, but she didn't want this moron to see that she had feelings for him. Or that she had her heart broken by him, without him even noticing._

Maybe she hasn't been entirely honest to herself. After all, all those years ago, she and Killian kind of had a thing going on. But he walked right out of her life, just like everybody else, so she just chose to completely forget about him. He was almost 18, she was 15, his brother was 20 and working in the military, so he didn't know where Killian was.

When he found out, Killian was already considered an adult so he didn't have to stay in the orphanage anymore. And he was given an option: either walk away from everything, including Emma, so that he would be free, or stay in the orphanage a little while longer until he figured his life out. He didn't choose the latter and left Emma alone. So she forgot about him after a week of crying.

 _"Emma. Emma look at me, please" Killian begged. But the 14 year old was not going to listen. He had feelings for her, and she for him, but she would never ever say that to his face. Or at least so he thought._

 _They were just friends back then, even if he was constantly hitting on her. "Emma, please just tell me what's wrong." Emma looked up at him. She had tears in her eyes, but she was not going to let them fall. "What happened is this guy who I like is a dick." She left out a sigh and looked into Killian's deep, blue eyes. "And the guy I thought I would never fall in love with is starting to prove me wrong." Emma let a tear escape her eyes, staining her check. "And he's too stupid to get the hint." The tall, thin girl stood up and turned to walk away. "Plus, I'm turning 15 today."  
_  
 _Shit. He totally should have known.  
_  
 _He saw it on the calendar in the common room. His birthday was there too, just two days before hers. Well, two days and two years, but whatever. Everyone thought there was a three year difference between them, because he lied about his age when he got there. He was determined to get out as soon as possible, and he wasn't going to miss an opportunity like that._

 _He also tried to mock the lady at the counter by saying his name was Hook, but she wasn't **that** stupid. But since then everyone in the system called him that. Except for Emma. The one person who didn't mock him, and she forgot about her birthday. While it was written in big red letters above her head. Quite literally. Yup, he was a dick, but he could prove her she could like him.  
_  
 _Then it hit him: he was being a dick, and he was the idiot Emma was talking about.  
Shit, shit, shit. "EMMA. EMMA, wait." He screamed after her as she left his and Jefferson's bedroom. Jefferson was his roommate, and he was consistently mocking Killian for how much time he spent with Emma in their room. Killian knew he was going to be mocked for a few weeks for his gesture, but that didn't matter right then.  
"Emma, bloody hell. Wait up." Emma finally turned to face him in the middle of the hallway that led to the exit near the docks.  
_  
 _She was crying and was relieved no one ever came to that part of the house, because she didn't want anyone to see her heartbroken. Killian grabbed her wrist and stopped her. That's when she turned to look at him.  
_  
 _"What? Did you rehearse another pick-up line that you would like to try out on me?" As Killian looked into her eyes, she saw hurt in them. Hurt and betrayal. She was feeling betrayed by him. "Shit." he thought to himself._

 _Then he spoke up: "Emma, I'm sorry that I was a dick who wouldn't get the hint." Her words sounded a bit silly in his serious, accented voice, but she was far more concerned with what he actually meant. She stayed silent and pointed her eyes to the ground, as she was not ready to face him._

 _He probably didn't like her anyway, those lame pick-up lines just some bullshit to look cooler. She wasn't crying anymore, because now she was terrified of what he was going to say._  
 _"Emma. It's okay to like someone back." He smirked a little as he cupped her cheeks and lifted her head up, so she would be looking into his eyes. "I do believe it's actually quite nice that you feel the same way as I."  
_  
 _Emma was confused and somewhat scared. "No. You don't actually like me. You're just shitting me right now, aren't you?" Killian just stared blankly at her for a second and then said: "Would you consider this "shitting you"?" Before Emma could say anything, he crashed his lips onto hers and kissed her. And they started to fall in love with eachother._

The next morning when Emma woke up, Killian was gone. He probably left to get Henry a little earlier than expected. He was probably going to return soon, and with the love of her life.

With those words, she remembered what Killian actually meant to her all those years ago, and suddenly every single memory of him came back to her. How he first kissed her in the hallway leading to the docks, how she fell in love with him and most importantly, how he left.

He left her at the orphanage after telling her he loved her. What would stop him from doing the exact same thing now? She was going to fall in love with him, Henry was probably going to do the same, and then he'll leave. Just like they always do. Just like he did all those years ago, at the orphanage.

What even made her think that he was different? He was just like the rest: set out on the mission of ultimately breaking her heart. She couldn't let that happen. She had to push him away before it was too late. But then she would have no one. David and Mary Margret just said it would be better to give Henry up for adoption and Killian was just a jackass. The only people she could trust right now were herself, Elsa and Henry. If it weren't for that stupid cast, she would get up, get Henry herself and run the hell away from everything that was happening right now. Because it all sucked.

Killian was ecstatic. He had a brilliant plan to maybe knock down some of Emma's walls. He would get Henry and some flowers. Maybe even some chocolate if he had the time. He knew leaving her all those years ago was an inconsiderate and selfish act, and he just prayed she forgot everything about that time of their lives. But he was almost certain of that, seeing the way Emma almost let him in last night.

Her walls were beginning to come down and he was planning to take advantage of that so he could make her fall in love with him again. The only problem is, he knew he didn't deserve her. In fact, he didn't deserve anyone with a heart as big as hers. But he still wished she would eventually love him for who he was, even though what he did to her last week and eight years ago was just unforgivable.

Even if she were to remember what had happened between them and forgive him, he would not be able to forgive himself. Besides the fact that she was in the hospital because of him, he had left her alone in the place she dreaded most: an orphanage. His heart ached as he thought about the consequences of his past actions, but he was not going to remind her of his idiocy. She would have to remember on her own, because what they had right now was simply too good to ruin with facts about their shared past.

With that thought in mind, Killian rang the doorbell of the Nolan family. To no real surprise, David was not too happy to see him, but he didn't slam the door in his face, so they were making some real progress here.

"What do you want, Killian?" he said tiredly, as if talking to Killian was the worst thing that could possibly be happening right now.  
" Besides the lad, you mean?" Killian answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

" You want Henry?" David's eyes widened. "What makes you think you can show up at my door and just demand Emma's son without her here?"

"Well, I'm glad you ask, actually. You see, mate, you really made Emma feel like crap the other evening, so the least you can do is give Henry to me so he can see his mum and apologize to Emma." Killian smirked a little as he nodded towards the inside of the apartment, where a baby was crying.

"Fine." David rolled his eyes and moved out of the doorway so Killian could come inside. He greeted Henry, who was slightly scared of the new figure, and then packed the kid's portable crib and everything else he needed.

He took everything to his truck and then got Henry, who was a little more than unhappy with the fact that a stranger was holding him. He cried almost all the way to the hospital, so Killian only had time to pick up some pink roses from the flower-shop on the corner of the street.

The moment he entered Emma's hospital room, his heart skipped a beat. She was so beautiful, standing there on a chair next to the window, her hair a knotted mess of sunlight and gold.

"Hey, love." He said softly as he got closer to where Emma was standing. He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek, but she didn't say anything, nor did she move. She just remained there in silence, looking out the window. Killian noticed tears were starting to gather up in her eyes. " Swan? What's wrong?"

"Could you please just give Henry to me and get out?" Emma's voice was shaking as she spoke.  
"Swan, what do you mean?" He said as he placed a very happy Henry in Emma's arms. He could see Emma was happy to see her son, but she maintained a sober expression on her face.

"Just get out. Please." A single tear fell down her cheek and she hurried to wipe it away. Killian just looked in confusion at her, left the pink roses on her bed-side table and got out the room.  
She must have remembered.

As soon as Killian was out of her sight, she started crying, earning a very confused look from little Henry.  
"Sh sh, mama." He whispered as he stretched out his little hand to cup her tear-stained cheek.

Killian could pretty much write a book at this point: "How to fuck everything up with the love of your life. A guide to lost love by a dumb jackass."

He got in his and Liam's hospital room and immediately threw a heavy punch at the wall. He was so angry at himself. He shouldn't have left eight years ago. He shouldn't have told Milah to drive. He shouldn't have listened to Liam last weekend.

Instead, he should have stayed. He should have called a cab. He should've told Emma how he feels without setting a diner on fire. Actually, without blowing up a diner.

He couldn't help but feel worthless and like the villain. He always managed to fuck things up. Eight years ago with Emma. Six years ago with Milah and now again with Emma. How did he manage to always do something bad? He was somehow always ending up in a darker place then when he actually started. And he would always end up hurting the one he loved most. Maybe he was the villain after all. Maybe he deserves to be called Hook.


End file.
